Just Another Dramatic Love Story
by Jedi-Espada
Summary: Rukia & Orihime go off to college, and guess what's waiting there for them? A heaping load of drama. Read along and see your favorite Bleach characters flirt, fight, & fall in love. The ending pairing...IchiRuki? RenRuki? IchiHime? UlquiHime? You'll see.
1. Moving In

_"Just Another Dramatic Love Story" Ch. 1_

"Okay, I know we've unpacked the boxes in our van—"

"We've unpacked _all _of the boxes, sis."

"—But we still need to check your car one more time—"

"I'm pretty sure I already checked."

"Are you _sure _you—"

"Hisana!" Rukia laughed. "I've got EVERYTHING. I'm positive. I'm ready to start college now."

Her sister looked at her with watery eyes. "Oh, please don't start crying again…" Rukia groaned.

Hisana sniffed, wiping the tears from her brilliant lavender eyes. "I-it's just…so surprising! M-my l-little sister is grown up already! If only…if only M-mom and D-dad were h-here to s-s-see you!" With this, Hisana burst back into hysterics, and Rukia stood on her tiptoes to give her a hug.

"It's alright. I'm going to be just _fine,_" Rukia said, eyeing her brother-in-law Byakuya. He was looking at her curiously with those cold gray eyes of his.

Hisana smiled, and after five tears-of-joy filled minutes, Rukia watched her sister hop in the car and say her final goodbye. "I love you so much, Rukia! Have a great time, and don't forget to call me _every day!" _Rukia grinned, laughing, and returned the curt nod that Byakuya had directed at her before the van slowly backed away, leaving Rukia by herself.

As she walked back up to her dorm, she pulled out her class schedule and dorm information, going over it for what seemed like the millionth time. A small box on the sheet of paper at the top of her stack read, "Rukia Kuchiki, age 17, freshman. Dormitory: Rukongai Hall, room 313. Roommate: (if applicable) Orihime Inoue."

Rukia crinkled her nose. She had almost forgotten that she had a roommate. _I hope this Orihime girl isn't some psycho murderer like in all of those movies, _she thought.

Rukia heard the sharp _ding! _of the elevator, but before she could even look up, she was tackled by something large and strawberry-blond. "Woah!" Rukia cried.

"Kyaa!" the person on top of her squealed. "You must be Rukia. You're so cute!"

Rukia managed to squirm out of the girl's grip and gasped, "Yeah…yeah, I'm Rukia…" Looking up, Rukia saw that the girl had long, wavy hair, icy blue eyes, and a rather large chest area.

"I'm Rangiku," she replied, still smiling widely. "You're a freshman too, right?"

"Umm…yeah—"

Rangiku grabbed her by the arm and pulled her across the hall. "C'mere, you have to meet the others!" Rukia was dragged almost all the way to Rangiku's dorm before she managed to get on her feet and walk the rest of the way herself.

The door swung open, and Rukia saw at least ten other girls her age mingling around the room. Rangiku wasted absolutely no time in quickly introducing Rukia to every last one of them.

First, she was walked up to a tall, green-haired girl that was equally as busty as Rangiku. "This is Neliel, she's my roommate. Most people just call her Nel."

"Oh, hi!" Nel squealed. "You're Rukia, right?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you—"

Next, Rukia was introduced to two skinny black-haired girls with slightly harsh expressions on their faces. "This is Nanao, and that's Soi Fon. They're the heads of the dorm." As they walked away, Rangiku whispered, "That means they're the ones who try to keep us from having too much fun."

By the time Rukia was introduced to everyone in the room, she felt slightly overwhelmed. _So many names to remember, _she thought.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in her head. "Hey," Rukia said, nudging Rangiku. "Where's this Orihime girl?"

"Orihime? Is she your roommate?" Rangiku asked. Rukia nodded.

"Hmm…she moved in about a week ago, I think. She hasn't left her room much, so I'd check your dorm," said Nanao, who had been eavesdropping.

"Is she, um, a serial killer or anything?" Rukia asked.

Rangiku laughed. "Not that I know of. Gosh, you are _so _cute!" she added, enclosing Rukia in another tight hug.

Rukia managed to break away from Rangiku and Nel, who were still giggling over how "kawaii" she was, and found room 313. Nervously, she twisted the doorknob and walked in.

"Hello?"

There was a gasp from somewhere inside the room. "Oh, hi! You're Rukia, right?" A thin girl with long, auburn hair walked out from the shadows, and once again, Rukia noticed that her chest was rather large for someone of her age. _Did everyone in this school get plastic surgery or something? _Rukia thought.

"Yeah. Are you Orihime?" Rukia asked.

"Yep!" Orihime said cheerfully. "Come on in. I'm so excited that you're finally here, I've been so lonely the past few days!"

Rukia made her way inside and sat down on her bed. "So, have you met the other girls yet?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," Orihime said, looking nervous. "Nanao and Soi Fon kind of scare me, though…"

"I think they scare _everybody,_" Rukia laughed. Orihime giggled, and Rukia had a pretty good feeling that they would end up being friends. For the next ten minutes, they sat on their bunk beds, talking about their High School and life before College.

"Ooh, and don't tell anyone, but my High School crush is coming here, too!" Orihime whispered, blushing and smiling at the same time. "His name is—" SLAM!

Orihime was interrupted by the loud banging noise of their door hitting the wall as Rangiku and Nel marched in, grabbing Rukia by the arms.

"Oh, look, you two have met already," Rangiku said nonchalantly as Rukia struggled within her grip.

"Hey! What are you—" Rukia said, squirming out of Rangiku's arms.

Rangiku smiled sweetly. "Come on, you have to meet some of the guys now!"

Rukia's eyes widened. "_Guys? _I don't wanna meet guys!" A total lie; honestly, she couldn't wait to see if there was anyone hot on campus, but she was also pretty nervous.

"Awwww, come on, they don't bite!" Rangiku teased. "Nel, come help me get this poor girl to where all the smexy bishies are."

"Um…" Orihime murmured.

"Oh, you can come, too!" said Nel, who was now grabbing the legs of a writhing Rukia and assisting Rangiku in hauling her out the door.

Five minutes later, the two released Rukia and walked inside the elevator. Orihime was following awkwardly behind, with a look that clearly said, 'I think I'm surrounded by maniacs,' on her face.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Rangiku said in a babyish voice.

"You didn't have to _drag _me out of the dorm…" Rukia muttered.

Rangiku grinned wickedly. "You know, I'm glad you're opening up a little. The first time I met you—which was approximately thirty minutes ago—I was afraid you'd be one of those quiet, sulky, lives-in-an-emo-corner types of girls."

"You thought I was _emo?" _Rukia asked incredulously.

Rangiku winked. "Oh, hey, look, there are the guys!"

And sure enough, there they were, about five male figures standing outside the glass doors of the girls' dorm.

With a gasp, Rangiku pulled them outside squealing, "Yay! Shiro-chan's there, too!"

"What's up, Rangiku?" Said a tall kid with curiously bright orange hair. Looking closer at him, Rukia saw that he seemed to be keeping up a sort of 'tough-guy' demeanor. _He's kind of cute, actually, _Rukia thought.

Orihime nudged her painfully in the side. "_That's the guy!" _she said through her teeth. So this was Orihime's High School crush. Rukia shook her head mentally, erasing all previous thoughts that this guy was good looking. If Orihime had a crush on him, there was no use in Rukia liking him too.

Rukia smiled back at Orihime, giving her a small thumbs up, and then walked over to join Nel and Rangiku. "Rukia, this is Toshiro! I like to call him Shiro-chan, but he doesn't really like it," Rangiku said, pressing a small white-haired kid about Rukia's size into her boobs, practically suffocating him.

"Mff!" said Toshiro.

"What was that?" Rangiku asked, pulling him back and looking into his very red face.

"I _said,_" the kid snapped, backing away, "Get the hell off of me!"

Rangiku and Nel just giggled, and both reached out to mess up his hair as he walked away.

Next, Rukia was dragged back over to the ginger kid and introduced to him.

"Ohhhh Itsy-gooooo~! Itsy-go, this is Rukia," Nel said, beaming up at him. "And this is Orihime."

Ichigo managed a cool grin. "Yeah, I know Orihime, we went to school together." Rukia saw her friend blush brighter than her crush's hair. "I'm Ichigo."

"Hey," Rukia said, shaking his hand. The four of them stood there awkwardly until Ichigo finally spoke up again.

"Uh…this is Uryu," he said, dragging a black-haired boy with glasses over. "Orihime, you probably know him already, he went to school with us. The blue haired punk over there is Grimmjow, and the red-haired kid…ABARAI! C'mere!"

Rukia's head jerked up. _Abarai? _She had heard that name before. No way. It _couldn't _be, she hadn't seen him since middle school…

But as he got closer, Rukia could see a resemblance between the red haired boy walking towards them and her adolescent friend.

"What the hell do you want, Kurosaki? Can't you see I'm busy sweet-talking some seniors?"

Rukia's jaw dropped. That voice; it _was _him! "R-Renji?" she said in disbelief.

Renji's head jerked to the right, to the left, and finally downward. His eyes widened, making his eyebrows looking more strange than usual. "Rukia? Is that you?"

"Of course it's me! Who else would it be, you idiot?" she laughed.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her once again, giving her the once-over. "Man, you're short."

"Asshole!"

**Author's Note**

Mkay, so, incase you didn't know already, this story is supposed to be one of those dramatic love story fanfics (actually, more like a love OCTAGON, lol) where you don't exactly know who's going to end up with who, because life's just complicated like that XD Some _possible _pairings are: HitsuMatsu, IchiRuki, RenRuki, IshiNemu, IshiHime, IchiHime, UlquiHime, GrimmHime, HitsuKarin, and a WHOLE bunch of other stuff. Good luck figuring it all out :D

I'd also like to apologize about this chapter moving kind of slowly; it IS the first chapter after all. I promise it'll get better :3

Please leave feedback, reviews make me ecstatic.

Later,

-JediEspada/Potterwatcher1997


	2. Childhoods and Challenges

"Y-you didn't have to kick me _there," _Renji grunted. The group of four—him, Rukia, Ichigo, and Orihime—had now moved to a picnic table underneath a large oak tree to talk.

"Of course I did. You pressed my berserk button," Rukia said casually, staring at her fingernails.

Renji sighed. "Okay, look, I'm sorry for calling you short." He paused, looking at her expectantly.

"Good."

Renji's mouth dropped open. "What? You're not going to say sorry back for kicking me in the family jewels or anything?"

Rukia pretended to consider what he was saying for a moment. "Uuuummm…no."

Before Renji could retort, Ichigo changed the subject. "So what's up with this big reunion? Where do you two know each other from?"

"We went to middle school together," Rukia said. "After that, I moved away, though, so we haven't hung out since then."

Renji grimaced. "Stupid brother-in-law of yours…"

Rukia elbowed him. "Byakuya's not the reason why I moved, though he _is _kind of stupid sometimes."

"What? Why'd you move, then?"

"Hisana," she said exasperatedly. "Duh."

Orihime jumped into the conversation. "Hisana? What do you mean?"

Rukia looked down. "Hisana's my sister. She's been in poor health for a while now."

"I'm sorry," Orihime reached over to pat Rukia's arm. There was an awkward silence that followed, until Rukia spoke again.

"Hey, who's the pale kid under the Willow tree over there?"

Ichigo smirked. "His name's Ulquiorra. He doesn't really talk to anyone except Grimmjow, and it seems like they're enemies rather than friends."

"He's actually kind of cute," Rukia said openly.

Renji immediately frowned angrily. "He looks like a punk."

Ichigo blinked. "You want to meet him?"

"I—"

"Ulquiorra! Come here, a chick wants to meet you!"

Rukia blushed. "Wh-what? I never said I wanted to meet him!" But it was too late. Ulquiorra had already stood up, and was now walking towards them boredly.

"What is it, Kurosaki?" he asked emotionlessly. Out of the corner of her eye, Rukia could see Renji grinding his teeth.

"This fine young lady was just checking you out." Ichigo wiggled his eyebrows.

Ulquiorra glanced at Rukia, then his eyes fell on Orihime, who blushed. "…Next time, Kurosaki, leave me alone unless you have something important to say."

"Burn!" Rukia laughed as Ulquiorra sulked away.

Ichigo chuckled. "See what I mean?"

As evening turned to night, the conversation between the four young adults became less and less interesting, and near seven o' clock, they decided to call it a night and go back inside their dormitories.

"See you guys tomorrow," Ichigo called.

Rukia laughed. "It was good to see you again, Renji! Nice meeting you, Ichigo."

When Orihime and Rukia reached their room, they both collapsed on their beds. They were extremely tired, but at the same time, too excited to get to sleep.

"S-so Rukia," Orihime whispered, hiding behind her covers. "Do you like Renji?"

Rukia sat straight up, eyes wide. "Of course not. We're friends, that's all. Or at least we _were _friends. He's changed a lot…" her voice trailed off.

Orihime was smiling in a way that Rukia had never seen her smile before. "What about that other guy, uh, Ulquiorra?"

"_Him? _I don't even know who he is. I just thought he was good looking, you know, at first glance."

"Yeah, he _was _kind of cute," Orihime giggled.

Rukia pretended to gasp in shock. "What's this, Orihime? Are you _two-timing Ichigo?" _she cried dramatically.

The two convulsed into giggles, and in no time, they lay sleeping in their beds, finally able to get to sleep due to the large amount of fits of laughing that had just occurred.

_This, _Rukia thought just before sealing her eyes shut for the night, _this is bliss._

* * *

><p>"RUUUUUKIAAAA~! Wake u~up!"<p>

"Wh-what's going on…" Rukia muttered. "Who's…calling my name…and why…is someone shoving pillows in my face…?"

Rangiku laughed. "Those aren't pillows, darling!"

Rukia's eyes flew open and she blinked rapidly, now fully awake. "AH! Get your boobs off of me!"

"C'mawn, Ru-ru, time to go to bweakfast!" Rangiku trilled in a babyish voice.

"Leave me alone!" Rukia moaned, burying her face in her pillow.

"Ooh, not a morning person, are we?"

Rukia glared at her. "Alright, alright, I'm awake. Where's Orihime?"

Nel seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Off stuffing her face with wasabi-topped pancakes," she said cheerfully.

"Did you just say _wasabi-topped pancakes?" _

"Orihime has very interesting tastes in food," Rangiku said with a sweet smile.

"No kidding."

* * *

><p><em>He's just a few tables away. Should I go over and say hi? No, no, no, that would be <em>way _too obvious! Think, Orihime, think! How can you get him to notice you? Maybe I could go say hello to Renji, he's right next to Ichigo…but no, what if people thought I liked _Renji _then? _

Orihime was a mess. Thoughts flew in and out of her head like flies as she shoved mouthfuls of pancake covered in wasabi sauce in her mouth. She would look up at Ichigo, then nervously look away and eat another bite. Look up, look away, take a bite, look up, look away, take a bite, look up, look away, take a—

"Oh, Hime! Hime, darling, I'm _so _glad you made it here alive!"

Orihime turned around. "R-rangiku? Um, why wouldn't I have made it to the cafeteria alive?"

Rangiku's eyes widened in urgency as she whispered, "The assassins were waiting!"

"Rangiku, you're starting to worry me—"

Toshiro seemingly appeared out of thin air and butted into the conversation. "Don't worry, Orihime, acting insane is part of her job."

She squealed and turned around, enveloping Hitsugaya in a giant hug. "Kya! Shiroooooo!"

"Um…Have you seen Rukia?" Orihime asked quietly.

Rangiku let go of Toshiro's head and glanced at Orihime. "What? Oh, yeah, she's over there by Ichigo."

_Ichigo! _Orihime's smile radiated brighter than the sun. "Thanks!" she said gleefully before running off to her crush's table. _Thank you, Rukia! Now I have an excuse to be around Ichigo!_

"Hi, Rukia! Hi, Ichigo, Renji," she said happily.

Renji offered a smile, Ichigo gave a short wave, and Rukia quickly glanced in her direction. "Oh, hi, Orihime," she said hastily before turning back to Ichigo. "I swear, I could beat you any day!"

Ichigo laughed. "Don't kid yourself."

Orihime cocked her head to the side. "What's—?"

"I _swear! _I've been doing this kind of think since I was a little kid."

"Yeah, well, so have I. Being the tough kid in your grade means a lot of people challenge you."

Rukia jabbed a finger into her chest. "Well _I _grew up in the ghetto."

Renji sighed. "Guys, the way I see it, there's only one way to solve this."

"Um—" Orihime spoke up again.

"You're right, Renji." Rukia smiled wickedly. "Ichigo, I challenge you to a fight, just you and me."

Ichigo raised his eyebrows. "Oh, you wanna go, huh?"

"That's right."

Orihime's eyes grew to the size of soccer balls. "Wait, wait, wait—you guys are _fighting?"_

* * *

><p><span>Author's Note<span>

Ooh, a cliffhanger! u Shocker! What will happen next? Lol. Sooo predictable~

New chapter, finally. I promise that number 3 will come faster than this one did.

R&R3

Later,

-Potter/Jedi Espada


	3. Fights and Fires

"You really, _really _shouldn't be doing this!" Orihime whispered as she walked alongside Rukia, desperately trying to get her to reconsider.

"Sorry, Orihime, but there's no way you're getting me to change my mind," Rukia laughed.

Orihime tugged on her arm. "B-but, you guys could get, like, expelled or something!"

"Don't worry, we'll be fighting in the dojo with a referee on site, so it's perfectly within school rules."

"Aww," Orihime whimpered. "I just don't want either of you to get hurt!"

Rukia stopped walking and wheeled around to look her friend in the eyes. "Orihime, stop worrying so much! Like I said, there will be a ref there, just in case things get out of hand." She started to turn back, then whipped around again and added, "Which they won't."

* * *

><p>"You should <em>definitely <em>do this," Renji said, grinning.

"I know. I just feel kind of uncomfortable about fighting a girl," Ichigo said as he wrapped tape around his arms.

Renji slapped him on the back. "What happened to 'I could take her down any day'?"

Ichigo glared at him. "Are you sure this is even _legal?" _he asked.

Smirking, Renji gave him a thumbs up. "Nice way to change the subject, bro. And yeah, you won't get expelled or anything, I'm positive."

"Yeah, well you were also 'positive' when you said that she wouldn't accept the challenge and just back off!" Ichigo said exasperatedly.

* * *

><p>Rukia peered out of the girl's locker room door at the crowd waiting outside. "<em>This <em>is the entire student body?" she asked in disbelief as her eyes scanned over the group of young adults gathered around the ring, chatting causally.

"Uh-huh," Rangiku said.

Rukia glanced at her, trying to tell whether her friend was lying or not. "There's, like, 200 people here. My high school had four times as many students."

Rangiku patted her on the head. "Yeah, well, that's what you get when you go to a private college: a small selection of hot guys to date."

The door was flung open once again, this time from outside. An athletic-looking girl stepped inside the room and covered her eyes. "Is everyone in here dressed?"

"Er, yeah…"

The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm Tatsuki Arisawa, I'll be refereeing your match."

Rukia nodded. "Okay."

There was a few seconds of silence until Rangiku nudged her painfully in the side. "Stop being so awkward!" she hissed. Turning back to Tasuki, she continued. "Sorry about that, my friend's a little socially retarded sometimes. What she _meant_ to say is that her name's Rukia Kuchiki, she's glad to meet you, and that she's ready to kick Ichigo's ass."

Tatsuki grinned. "Awesome. Ichigo and I are kind of old rivals. We went to the same school together and he could _never_ beat me in a karate match."

Rukia opened her mouth to reply when the door was flung open yet _again. _Orihime scurried inside nervously and tugged on Rangiku's arm. "I need to talk to you!" she whispered urgently.

* * *

><p>"What's up?" Rangiku asked. After a few very curious and slightly suspicious glances from Rukia and Tatsuki, they had stepped out into a hallway together.<p>

Orihime took a deep breath. "I can't let Ichigo and Rukia fight each other. I need to find a way to stop the match."

Rangiku raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

* * *

><p>"Well, that was weird," Tatsuki yawned as she flipped her long, spiky black hair over her shoulder.<p>

"What d'you mean?"

"Orihime and I have been best friends since intermediate school, and she didn't even seem to notice I was here," she laughed. "Something must really be bothering her."

Rukia didn't really know how to respond, (this Tatsuki girl was kind of hard to talk to, she thought) so she just smiled and changed the subject. "How did you guys become friends anyway?"

Straightening her posture, Tatsuki placed a finger on her chin and contemplated how to best tell the story. "Well, like I said, it all started in middle school. Orihime was always bullied because she was so pretty; all the other kids were jealous. Then one day, a few bullies took it too far, and I stood up to protect her. Since then…well, we've always been friends. I've kept her safe when she needed it, you know?"

"Wow," Rukia breathed. She couldn't imagine something so horrible happening to _Orihime _of all people.

She opened her mouth to say more when she heard a bell sound off in the distance. "That's the signal," Tatsuki said. "We need to get out to the ring now."

Nervously, the two girls walked outside. Rukia felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked out over the crowd. It hadn't seemed so big from the locker room, but now that she was in front of everybody, it seemed like a million people were here staring at her.

"L-lots of people are here," Rukia gulped.

"Yeah, ever since you guys announced it yesterday at breakfast, the whole school's been crazy excited. I hear some people have even put money on the fight, even though it's illegal to bet on school events," Tatsuki said.

"Wow." Now, Rukia was feeling even _more _nervous. People were actually betting on the outcome of the fight?

Rukia looked forward and saw Ichigo standing in front of her. She grinned triumphantly, trying to look confident. Renji was standing next to him on the sidelines. He excitedly waved at Rukia, a gesture that she returned halfheartedly.

She approached Ichigo and extended her hand to him. "Hey, are you—" _WEE-OO! WEE-OO! WEE-OO!_ A loud wailing noise filled her ears, and Rukia yelled to Tatsuki, "What's going on?"

"Fire alarm went off, I guess!" the girl bellowed back.

Slowly but surely, the entire student body began to exit the building and walk out onto the lawn, back up to their dorms. Several looked back nervously to see if there was smoke coming from anywhere, but the sky was clear.

"Er, what now?" Rukia asked.

"Back to the dorms, I guess," Tatsuki said glumly.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah. Even if there's not a fire going on, there's no way we'll be able to go back in there and fight today."

Rukia shrugged. "Oh well. See you guys tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, bye."

* * *

><p>"Rangikuuuu!" Orihime cried. "I <em>can't <em>believe you just had me do that!"

"You've said that four times already, Hime," Rangiku laughed. "Besides, there aren't any cameras in the athletic building, there's no way anyone will know it wasn't an accident."

"B-but, can't you get, like, arrested for pulling the fire alarm in a crowded area?"

Rangiku waved it off. "Aw, of _course _not. Anyway, they'll probably discover there wasn't really a fire any minute now, and we'll be fine—"

Sure enough, not a second later, the loudspeaker crackled on and the headmaster's voice echoed through. _"Attention all students. The staff of the school would like to inform you that a fire did _not_ cause the alarm that was set off in the athletic building. I repeat, there is _no _fire anywhere on campus. Even still, we would like to ask all students to remain out of the building for the next few days in order for our faculty to examine whether or not our smoke detectors are working properly. Thank you." _

"See?" Rangiku said happily. "Now come on, let's head back to the dorm before we start looking suspicious."

* * *

><p>It was getting dark now, and Rukia still hadn't called Hisana yet. She looked over at the sleeping form of Orihime next to her and sighed happily. She was just about to take out her cell and phone her sister, when—BAM!<p>

"You seem to have a habit of slamming my door open and entering dramatically, don't you?" Rukia said boredly as she looked at the busty figure standing before her.

"I _am _majoring in drama after all," Rangiku winked. "Hey, get up, we're going out for a drink."

Rukia shook her head. "It's, like, nine-thirty at night!"

"So? That means the real fun's just getting started. Come _on, _just for an hour."

Sighing, Rukia stood up. "Fine."

"HEY! Orihime! D'you want to come, too?" Rangiku yelled.

"Shush! She's sleeping!" Rukia protested, but it was too late.

"Mmm…no, too tired…" Orihime mumbled as she stirred sleepily.

Rangiku shrugged. "Aw well. We'll see you in a bit, okay?"

"Mhmm…"

* * *

><p>"Man, Hime's a zombie at night," Rangiku whispered. The two girls were tiptoeing to the elevator silently; it was, after all, past curfew, and if Nanao or Soi Fon caught them, they'd be busted.<p>

Strangely enough, the door to the dorm heads' room was wide open and empty. "Weird, they don't seem to be there. Wanna go raid their panty drawers?" Rangiku giggled mischievously.

Rukia rolled her eyes, and in no time at all, they were at the elevator waiting for the doors to open. Open they did, and the girls stepped inside, now home free to explore to their heart's content.

* * *

><p>The door of Orihime's door creaked open and light flooded the room. She stood up tiredly and rubbed her eyes. Someone was standing in the doorway, but it was too bright to see who.<p>

Finally, Orihime's eyes adjusted. "S-soi Fon?" she asked sleepily. What would Soi Fon be doing in her room so late at night?

Orihime began to walk forward when she tripped over Rukia's shoes and fell on the ground, her back against the wall. "Oww...S-s-sorry about that," Orihime yawned. "Do you need something?"

Soi Fon remained silent but moved forward into the room, right in front of Orihime. She knelt down so that the two were face-to-face and put her hands on either side of the wall, trapping Orihime.

"What are you—?"

"You're a selfish little brat, you know that?" Soi Fon snarled. Orihime's eyes widened in confusion, and she continued. "I saw what you did today. That little trick with the fire alarm."

Orihime tried to plead innocent. "I-I don't know what you're talking about—"

"Don't play stupid with me!" Soi Fon snapped. "I saw _exactly _what you did with Rangiku Matsumoto to ruin the match today. I had money put on that match today," she whispered. "I put 200 dollars on Kurosaki's victory, and now that bastard Grimmjow will never give it back. And it's _all your fault." _

"B-but gambling is illegal on campus!" Orihime stuttered.

"So is faking a fire alarm!" Soi Fon yelled. Orihime recoiled and sunk as low as possible. "But don't worry," she hissed wickedly. She reached into her bag and pulled out something, and a glint of sliver could be seen briefly. "You're going to pay for what you did."

* * *

><p><span>Author's Note<span>

O-o-Oh, Cliffhanger O_o

What will happen next? IDK! Well, actually, I do, but whatevs.

Please review! :3

-Potter/J.E.


	4. Bitches and More Bitches

"Yeah, I've made a few friends, everything's going well."

Rukia had to admit, going out late at night with Rangiku and Nel was much more fun than she'd expected.

"_Hisana! _That's none of your business! Tch…_NO, _Hisana, I do NOT have a boyfriend yet."

It was eleven o'clock on the dot, and Rukia tried to keep her voice down as she tiptoed along the hall to her room.

"Really, Hisana? Do I _want _one?" She hissed. "You're the nosiest sister _ever!" _

Hisana laughed and said something in reply, but what it was, Rukia didn't hear. She practically dropped the phone as she approached her dorm.

The door was wide open, but Rukia couldn't see inside at all. The fan was blowing at a super-high speed, and papers with Orihime's name on them littered the floor of the hall.

"H-hisana, I'll have to call you back," Rukia whispered as she saw the most frightening thing yet lying on the ground; one of Orihime's hairpins, crushed and bent in half.

Without even waiting for a reply, Rukia slammed her phone shut and shoved it in her pocket, running into the room.

As she entered the doorway, she nearly tripped and fell on something that appeared to be a lock of hair. _What the hell happened here? _she thought. She scrambled back to the door and flipped on the light.

"O-orihime?" Rukia gasped. Papers and possessions were strewn all across the room, and there Orihime sat, against the wall, cradling something in her hands.

Rukia stumbled towards her and fell down on her knees. Orihime's right eye was swollen and black, and the hair in front of her left ear had been cut along her shoulder. She was holding her other hairpin closely, eyes unopened.

"Orihime, who did this to you?" Rukia whispered quietly. Orihime didn't answer. She shook her lightly, thinking that she must just be asleep. Still no answer.

Now panicking, Rukia's eyes fell upon a puddle of clear liquid next to them. She crawled over, stuck her finger in it, and smelled. "No way…" she whispered. "They _drugged _her?" Rukia didn't have much medical knowledge, but since her brother-in-law Byakuya was a doctor, she'd been taught to identify most liquids by their scents.

Without even thinking, Rukia ran out of the hall and into Rangiku's room. There was no one there. _Damn it, _Rukia thought. _They must still be out partying. _

Rukia walked back into her room and hesitated slightly before picking Orihime up and carrying her to the elevator. Rukia felt like she was going to collapse under the weight; it wasn't that Orihime was fat—on the contrary, Rukia was simply too small.

But she needed to get Orihime to the nurse immediately, and this was the only way. Inside the elevator, Rukia used her foot to kick the '1' button and sat down on the ground once the doors closed, breathing heavily. She felt Orihime's head for a temperature. Thankfully, she was as cool as can be.

Rukia stumbled out of the door to the girls' dorm and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god!" The tall black-haired kid, Ulquiorra, was standing outside under the oak tree. "Hey! Ulquiorra!" Rukia yelled.

He waltzed over towards her, not even slightly confused as to why she was carrying another student.

"T-take this," Rukia said. She dumped Orihime in his arms and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Here, follow me," she ordered.

Ulquiorra didn't ask a single question; he didn't ask why there was a sleeping girl in his arms, or where he was being commanded to go. In fact, he didn't say a word until Rukia addressed him.

"What were you doing out here so late at night?"

"Minding my own business," he said shortly. There was a small pause until he added, "I would ask the same thing of you, but I'm not exactly sure I want to know."

"She got, er, beaten up," Rukia muttered.

"I could tell that much."

Rukia glared at him. "Well, I don't know any more than that. Apparently, she's been drugged, too. That's why we're going to the nurses' office."

"I see."

They were silent from that point on. Rukia told Ulquiorra to wait outside while she went inside the female teachers' dormitory, since boys weren't allowed inside.

Thankfully, her room was closest to the door. Rukia timidly knocked and waited.

"Come in," said a kind voice.

She twisted the knob and entered. A pretty woman with long black hair stood before her, smiling brightly. "Are you Nurse Unohana?" Rukia asked.

"Yes, I am," she said. "Do you need something?"

"There's been an accident, it's a emergency—"

"Emergency?" Nurse Unohana's eyes glinted. "What happened?"

Rukia sighed. It would be hard to explain, and Orihime needed help _now. _"Can I just show you?"

"Sure."

The two of them tiptoed out of the teachers' dorm and into the cold night air. Ulquiorra had laid Orihime down on a picnic table not too far away.

Unohana ran her long, slender fingers along Orihime's face like large, pale spiders. "Who did this to her?" she asked.

"I don't know," Rukia whispered. "That's the thing. And apparently, they used some kind of antiseptic to drug her—"

There it was again—that worried, harsh glint in the nurses' eyes. "She was _drugged?" _Rukia nodded. "This is bad. Very bad. Mr. Cifer," she called to Ulquiorra, "Would you be so kind as to carry Ms. Inoue to my office?"

Ulquiorra nodded. Unohana motioned for Rukia to follow, and they hurriedly made their way to the Nurse's office.

"Why would they want to drug her?" Rukia asked, speeding up her pace in order to keep up with Unohana.

"Hmm," Unohana said softly. "More than likely to forget the details of the attack, such as who the person that hurt her was. And if that is the case, it gives us even more of a reason to treat her as fast as possible so that hopefully, she could rat out her attackers." She quickly pulled out her key and unlocked the Student Services building, where the Nurse's office was located.

"Lay her down on this table right here, Mr. Cifer—no, on second thought, place her sitting up right here in this chair…" Unohana instructed. "And Ms. Kuchiki, bring me that trash can, please."

Rukia moved fast and swiftly, though she was unsure what they needed a trashcan for. "Now," Unohana said, "You might want to look away for a while. I'm going to try and make her regurgitate the drug she swallowed."

Rukia quickly turned away and shut her eyes, biting her lip, but the splatting and coughing sounds she heard followed by the smell still managed to make her feel woozy. "I-is she awake?" Rukia asked.

"W-where…am I…?" said a weak voice.

"Apparently so," Unohana said. Rukia could tell that she was smiling just by the relief in her voice. "And it's okay to turn around now, Ms. Kuchiki."

Rukia anxiously spun around and hurried to Orihime's side.

"Ms. Inoue," Unohana said kindly, "Can you remember anything about who hurt you?"

Quickly, Orihime's hand twitched up to her bruised face and the lock of hair in front of her ear that would normally be keeping her hairpin in place. Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp. "S-soi…Soi Fon! And—and—"

Unohana smiled and placed her hand over Orihime's. "It's alright, you don't have to tell us right now. What's important is that you get some rest. Go ahead and close your eyes, and I'll begin treating your wounds. Try to drift off into sleep if you can."

"Yes ma'am…"

The nurse then turned to Rukia and Ulquiorra. "I appreciate all of the help you two have provided. However, now that she is under my care, you may return to your dorms if you wish."

Once again, Ulquiorra simply nodded and walked away, but Rukia stayed put. "I'd like to stay here with her," she whispered.

* * *

><p>Even though it was late at night, Rangiku was still wide-awake. She carefully tiptoed over to her roommate's bed and poked her cheek. "Nel. Nel. NE~ELLLLLL!"<p>

Nel turned over sleepily. "What is it, Rangiku?"

"My phone's out of battery. Can I use your charger?"

"I don't have an iPhone, my charger won't work…" Nel murmured.

"Aw, you're right. D'you think Rukia's got one?"

"I dunno…let me sleep…"

Rangiku popped up and strolled over to the door. "I'll go ahead and ask."

Nel struggled to get up. "Come on, Rangiku, don't wake anyone _else _up…"

But Rangiku ignored her and barged into the room. "Oh god..." she breathed.

* * *

><p>At 4:00 a.m., Orihime finally stirred. Rukia's head jerked up as soon as she saw movement coming from the bed. She'd been dozing off the entire night, but never had managed to actually fall asleep.<p>

"O-ri-hi-me?" Rukia said through a yawn.

"Is she awake?" Unohana's voice said from an armchair to the right. Rukia jumped; she hadn't been aware that the nurse was up. "Oh, sorry," she added.

"I-it's fine," Rukia laughed nervously.

Quietly, the two of them shuffled over to Orihime. They both stood there for a split second in silence until Orihime's eyes fluttered open.

Relief surged through Rukia like a wave of heat. "You're okay!" she choked.

"Where am I? Why does my…my face hurt so much?" Orihime mumbled as she rubbed the traces of yesterday's makeup out of her eyes. She winced as her fingers brushed across her right eyelid. "Oh…yeah…"

Unohana placed a wet paper towel across her forehead, making sure to cover the bruises on Orihime's face. "Do you remember everything?"

Orihime nodded sleepily. "Will they get expelled?"

Unohana bit her lip. "I don't know, Ms. Inoue. Student reprimendation isn't my specialty. But before we can decide any of that, I'll need you to tell me what happened. _Exactly _what happened. Are you feeling up to that?"

She nodded again. They sat in silence for a few seconds, and Rukia wondered if Orihime had fallen asleep again. But without warning, she launched into the story, making Rukia jump again.

"I was in my room trying to sleep. Rukia and Rangiku had gone out, so I was all alone. I saw the light in the hallway and knew someone had opened the door.

"So I got out of bed and walked over to see what they wanted. I couldn't get a really good look at their face at first, but once I got closer, I could see who it was." Her lip trembled as she continued, "Soi Fon. She slammed me against the wall and started talking to me about how it was my fault that she lost a bet and got all this money stolen…the fire alarm, yes, that's it…

"Then she pulled out this silver bottle of liquid and hit me a few times. Someone—It might have been Nanao—came in too. One of them held me down while the other poured the liquid in my mouth and made me swallow. After that, everything was blurry. I started to forget where I was and what was going on. I could feel numbness and pain, but it was as if I was underwater. Everything felt…indirect. A-and that's all I can remember."

Unohana nodded gravely. "I see. I'm very sorry that happened to you. I know this must be difficult, but I'll need you to tell the story again to the Headmaster to ensure that Ms. Fon and Ms. Ise are punished properly for what they did."

Sniffing, Orihime shook her head. "O-okay."

The two of them stood up and headed to the door. "Ms. Kuchiki," Unohana called.

Rukia blinked. She felt like she'd been in a daze for the past few minutes.

"You look like you're a carcass come back to life. Please stay here and get some sleep."

"Yes ma'am," Rukia muttered weakly. She closed her eyes, and everything went black.

* * *

><p>It was morning. Birds were chirping. The sun was blaring in through the windows, burning Rukia's eyes. She sat up slowly and glanced around. She didn't remember going back to her dorm. She didn't even remember falling asleep. But there she was, sitting in her warm, soft bed in the Girl's Dormitory as if this was just another normal morning.<p>

Where was Orihime? Had she come back yet? There was no one else in the room. At least, that was what Rukia thought.

"RUKIAAAAAAAA!" a familiar voice yelled in her ear. Rukia practically jumped out of her pajamas.

"Rangiku," Rukia said exasperatedly. "Do you _have _to do that every morning?"

Rangiku laughed haughtily and—

Okay, wait, hold up. I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry, but third person's not my style. I know it's more professional, but…too formal. I mean, really, it's weird referring to myself as "Rukia" and "she" instead of just...me. Ack. So from now on, I'll be telling my life story through college the way _I _like it. FIRST PERSON. Now, please excuse my interruption and let's get back to the story.

Rangiku laughed haughtily and slapped me painfully on the back. "You're _so _cute when you're frustrated!" she snickered.

I simply sighed and got out of bed. "Will you at least give me some privacy to change?"

My friend winked and practically bounded over to the door. "You'd better hurry up, though. The Headmaster's called a school-wide assembly in thirty minutes."

I whirled around in shock. "_Thirty minutes? _My god, woman, why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Rangiku laughed again. "Oh, and speaking of the Headmaster, how's Orihime?" I added.

"She's fine. The Headmaster let her stay in a suite over the night, and apparently she's got permission to skip the assembly."

"Hm. Okay, thanks. Now leave," I instructed.

"My, my, someone's getting a little demanding!" Rangiku trilled as she strutted out the door.

* * *

><p>As soon as the Headmaster stood up and began to speak, I could understand why Orihime was allowed to skip the assembly.<p>

The whole thing was about what had happened to her. Of course, he didn't mention names, but I'm sure it would've been a little emotional for her to have to sit through it.

"…And I can assure you, the students who committed this horrible act have been expelled from the school and banned from setting foot on the campus." At these words, I felt my blood surge. That's _all _the got? Expulsion?

I knew that Orihime could have sued them, or even booked a jail cell for them under charges of assault, (which they definitely deserved) but why didn't she? Why let them get off easy?

The assembly ended and I felt someone tap my shoulder.

"Oh, hey, Renji," I said with a halfhearted smile.

"Hey," he said. "Ichigo, Rangiku, and I were going to visit Orihime, and we were just thinking—"

"I'd love to come with you guys," I said, perking up at once.

We met up with Rangiku and Ichigo under the huge oak tree.

"She's still in the suite, right?" Ichigo asked.

"Uh huh," Rangiku said.

We pretty much walked to the room in which Orihime was staying in complete silence, so I took the opportunity to meditate on what I would say to her when we got there. Would I ask her what happened with the Headmaster? Or why she didn't retaliate against Soi Fon and Nanao?

But as soon as we reached the glass double doors of Orihime's suite ("Wicked," Renji said in awe) I decided to just bring it up some other time.

I was about to step up and knock lightly on the door, but Rangiku strode past me and threw open the doors dramatically. (She seems to enjoy doing that, don't you think?)

"AH!" A smile appeared on my face after hearing Orihime's voice. "Rangiku, don't scare me like that!"

Laughing, the rest of us walked in as well. "Oh, hey, guys," Orihime greeted us. "O-oh, I-ichigo!" Orihime's face turned five shades of red. "Your face is, er…"

I looked up at Ichigo and did a double take. "Uh," I started, trying not to crack up, "You _do _know that you have a moustache drawn on you, right?"

He started at me for a second. Then his hand flew up to his lip, and sure enough, black paint was smeared across his fingers. "Grimmjow, you prick! I'll _kill _him!" he turned to Renji. "And _you! _You knew about this, didn't you?"

The four of us dissolved into fits of laughter while Ichigo had a mini-spasm, calling Grimmjow a whole bunch of names that his mother sure wouldn't have approved of.

* * *

><p>We stayed until noon, when we received a call from Nel that the girls needed to head back over to the dorm for something important.<p>

There was a crowd gathered around the front door. At the head was an attractive dark-skinned woman standing on a picnic table. If I remembered correctly, she was the coach for all women's sports, even though she was still a senior. Yoruichi, I think.

Rangiku, Orihime (who we had reluctantly allowed to come along), and I jogged up and tried to figure out what was happening.

"—obviously, the two spots of the expelled students needed to be filled," Yoruichi was saying. "And since the school has a very long waiting list, we decided to let in the two _fabulous _young ladies at the very top. Step on up."

Two girls joined Yoruichi on the top of the picnic table. They were both tall and thin, with weird-colored hair that was tied into pigtails. Both of them seemed to be dressed in Gothic Lolita apparel, even though it was scorching hot outside.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Yoruichi asked. "Introduce yourselves."

The purple-haired girl on the right wearing white Lolita cleared her throat. "Cirucci Thunderwitch," she said, lifting her nose in the air pompously.

The other one, magenta-haired and dressed in a black maid uniform, grinned wickedly. "Riruka Dokugamine."

"Well," Rangiku said, yawning, "They look like bitches."

* * *

><p><span>Author's Very Apologetic Note<span>

OMG GUISE I'M LEIK SO SORREH FOR NOT UPDATING TEH STOREH.**  
><strong>

Damn you, writer's block! But hopefully, this chapter (which is 2x longer than what I usually write; 3,000 compared to 1,500) will make up for it.

Sorry if you had high hopes for Nanao and Soi Fon. BITCHES GOT DEMSELVES EXPELLED, YO.

I really like Cirucci. She's hot.

That is all.

Sooner than Later,

-Potter/JediEspada


	5. Fatties and Framings

Days began to fly by faster than birds in the sky, and before we all knew it, the first official day of classes had started.

The two new girls, Cirucci and Riruka, fit right in with Tia Harribel and her group, a circle of girls that liked to show up only for meals and disappear into the great beyond any other time of the day. I didn't exactly mind. I didn't like the looks of those two girls, anyway.

As for _my _group of friends, well, we've been at the top of the food chain for a while. Ever since the "incident," girls and boys alike have been a whole lot nicer to Orihime and me. The Headmaster even let us have Soi Fon and Nanao's old room, (which is a whole lot bigger) while Riruka and Cirucci got ours. I think the Headmaster sort of favors Orihime nowadays, but given the situation she was in, who _wouldn't? _

Anyway, today brought a sunny, bright, and promising morning along with the start of our school year. It'd be lying for me to say that I wasn't nervous. But at least I only had about a hundred students in my year.

As always, I was woken by the familiar, "Wake U~UP, Rukiaaaaa!"

"Rangiku," I grumbled. "Couldn't you at least let me sleep in a bit on the first day of—"

"No way," she interrupted. "Now c'mon, get down to breakfast, you're the only one who's not dressed!"

I rubbed my eyes gingerly and stood up. _Time to get ready. _

I tried not to go as slow as possible and seemingly succeeded. It only took me five minutes this time. A new record.

On my way downstairs I saw Orihime, practically skipping to the Breakfast Hall. "Somebody's excited today," I said.

"Oh, hi, Rukia! You're finally up!" she said, turning around.

"'Finally'? Did I really sleep in that long?" I asked curiously.

"You _were _the last one up," she giggled.

Together we walked to the breakfast hall in almost complete silence. We were both pretty nervous about our first class, I guess.

Orihime practically threw open the doors when we reached the entrance, a huge grin on her face. A grin that faded when her eyes found the empty table that usually occupied five noisy boys they knew. "Ichigo's not here?" she said quietly.

"I guess not," I murmured. I was actually a bit disappointed myself that none of the guys were there. "But where could they be?"

* * *

><p>"BOOM! Take <em>that, <em>giant spider!" Grimmjow yelled furiously at the Xbox lying in front of his TV.

"I used to fight giant spiders in Skyrim all the time," said Ichigo as he walked by, "then I took an arrow in the knee."

"The growing amount of 'arrow-in-the-knee' jokes that have just been passed in the past five minutes makes me want to stab my eardrums with an ice pick," Ulquiorra said quietly.

"It's Skyrim, I can't help it," Ichigo said through a mouthful of cheetos.

"So Renji," Toshiro yawned. "Tell me again why we're boycotting breakfast."

"They've stopped serving sausage rolls, an act which is intolerable."

Toshiro cleared his throat. "So because there are no sausage rolls…"

"Yeah?"

"…We're not eating breakfast at all."

"Yeah."

"That makes about as much sense as Grimmjow Leeroy Jenkins-ing into a room full of undead skeletons," Toshiro said.

"What exactly are you trying to say, punk?"

"I'm saying," Toshiro continued boredly, "That your idea is stupid."

"NO!" Renji yelled. "_You _are stupid, and therefore wrong!"

"I knew I never should have given him that Vodka last night," Grimmjow said, his eyes glazed over as he pounded on the controller furiously.

"You gave him _Vodka?" _

It had been quite a—how should I say it?—"chillaxed" morning for the guys. Grimmjow was exercising his finger muscles playing Skyrim; Ichigo and a not-quite-sober Renji were pigging out on chips and French fries; Uryu and a pink-haired kid named Szayel were dueling it out in Yu-Gi-Oh; and Toshiro and Ulquiorra were trying as hard as they could to concentrate on the books they were reading.

"Don't worry," Grimmjow yawned, "It should wear off by ten."

"Class _starts _at ten," Uryu mumbled.

"Wait, _what?" _everyone yelled.

Uryu cocked his head to the side. "What? You guys didn't know that today was the start of the first semester?"

And after that simple realization, the guys' morning ceased to be "chillaxed".

* * *

><p>"First," I read loudly from a paper that had just been delivered to me, "Is Advanced English."<p>

"Professor?" Rangiku asked as she popped an orange slice into her mouth.

"Sasakibe. Next is History with Zaraki and Economics with Omaeda. Then that's it for today."

"Economics?" Nel spoke up. "Why would we need to take that?"

I shrugged. "I dunno."

Thankfully, Nel, Rangiku, Orihime, and practically every other freshman in the school had signed up for a Bachelor of Arts like I had, meaning we'd have the same classes, for the most part.

"Should we start walking there, then?" Orihime asked. "It's 9:45."

"I guess so." Same as this morning, we all headed to the English building in silence. It was almost kind of unnerving, not hearing Rangiku's constant chatter as we walked.

We all stopped after reaching the door. "Aren't you going to kick it open like you always do?" I whispered.

"I'll flash the people inside," Rangiku murmured. "And I'm wearing Hello Kitty underwear."

"What's wrong with Hello Kitty?" Orihime started.

"Stop changing the subject and let's just go in already," Nel said. She strode forward and threw open the doors, and, well, we had no choice but to follow.

The building only had one floor, and about seven classrooms. The walls were painted a creamy shade of tan, reminding me of the beach. I _hated _the beach. That wasn't a good sign.

We walked into the classroom nervously, but it turned out that the teacher wasn't even there yet. Who _was _there, you might be thinking? Well, unfortunately for us, pretty much all of the girls we tried to avoid.

Tia Harribel, blond and dark-skinned, was sitting in the back minding her own business. But Harribel herself wasn't too bad; it was the group that followed her that made me want to bang my head against the wall. Cirucci and Riruka were at the head of the crowd, followed by Harribel's miniature fan club: Apache, Sun-sun, and Mila Rose. Two mean girls named Loly and Menoly took up the end of the chain, glaring at all of us, particularly Orihime.

Was this really it? No guys? No _other _girls?

Rangiku seemed to be able to read my mind. "Don't worry," she said. "We're early. The guys should be coming soon."

There was a cold laugh from behind us. "It wouldn't be any fun without any of the guys, would it?"

We all turned around in unison. Riruka was looking at us expectantly.

"You've been here for, what, four days? And you already have you eye on one of them?" Nel spoke up.

Riruka blew a kiss towards the doorway. "The orange one, in particular." I felt Orihime muffle a gasp next to me.

Finally, the guys walked in, breaking the awkward silence that followed. Ichigo saw the looks on our faces. "What?" he asked. "Why's everyone staring at me?"

"Noreason," I said, so quickly that the words blended together.

"Yeah, no reason at all," Rangiku chimed in.

Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, but Professor Sasakibe walked in at that exact moment, so we were saved for the time being.

He was a fairly young man, but his moustache and naturally white hair made him look older than he was. Not exactly the most interesting class followed that, but it was laid back and seemed to ease all of out nerves.

Next, Orihime practically _teleported_ to US History. "Eek! That's my favorite subject!" she had squeaked before disappearing into the great mob of students.

We couldn't catch up in time and just walked with the guys. Renji seemed to be missing for some reason, but I didn't question why.

Our US History teacher, Mr. Zaraki, was pretty intimidating, with his eyepatch and long black hair spiked up in triangles.

For some reason, Zaraki didn't really get into the whole "History" part of the subject and just liked to focus on talking about bloody battles. Oh well. At least it wouldn't get boring that way.

The class seemed to go by in a blur, and before I knew it, the day was practically over. Just one class left to go to—

"_Economics," _Rangiku grumbled.

"Tell me about it," said Renji.

"Woah!" I whipped around, lightning-fast. "When did you get here?"

He smoothed his hair into its usual ponytail. "Approximately ten seconds ago."

"You skipped US History?" Nel asked.

"Uh, no," he said. "I just don't have it until Wednesday."

"It's so weird now," Orihime said. "I'm used to everyone having the same classes."

"Yeah, it's definitely—" Toshiro started. "Wait. Am I reading this correctly?"

Rangiku snatched the paper he was reading out of his hands. "Which part?"

"The teacher. I doesn't say Omaeda, does it?"

We all peered over Rangiku's shoulder to take a look at the schedule. "Yeah, why? Someone you know?"

"Only the biggest, most useless ass from my hometown."

Rangiku laughed lightly. "Lucky you."

"This isn't a joke, Matsumoto! I _know _this guy, he's going to make _all _of our lives a living hell for the next semester!"

"Why, what's wrong with him?" Ichigo asked. Nobody answered. We were dangerously close to the classroom.

"Welcome inside, peasants," said a booming voice. I did a double take when I saw who had spoken; the guy was so fat he looked like a giant tub of goo. Even now, he was stuffing his face with crackers, licking his fingers while the intricate jeweled necklaces and rings decorating his body jingled. A solid gold crown stood atop his head, failing to cover his thinning black hair.

"Peasants?" I murmured. We all walked inside the classroom, judging from the look on Toshiro's face that this was the right one.

As I took my seat between Ichigo and Toshiro, I heard Omaeda say, "Oh ho ho! It seems the young Hitsugaya is in my class this year!"

He walked forward and slammed his hands down, one on my desk and one on Toshiro's. "Ah! It seems you even have a little girlfriend the same size as you, hmm?" His tiny eyes peered into mine.

"What—?"

Normally, I'd be blushing like crazy or trying to hide in the corner, but right now, the only thing that stuck out to me was—

_"Little?" _Toshiro and I snapped in unison.

"Still touchy about your size, I see."

"She's not my girlfriend," Toshiro said, practically smoldering, "And I am _not _little."

Omaeda let out a guttural laugh and walked to the front of the classroom. "Let's get started with class then, shall we?"

I had a feeling that this class was not going to be fun. And was I right? Bingo! I also had a feeling that by the end of the semester, I was going to have an urge to smash Omaeda's head into a pie made of sulfuric acid, but only time could tell if that would come to be true.

For about an hour, Omaeda droned on about money, his family, his family's money, etc, etc. Finally, one word snapped basically the entire class back into reality. "So, you will all be put into groups of three for your _project _which will be due Friday—"

"Wait, sir," Uryu said, raising his hand. "We have a project _today?" _

"Yeah." He looked around the room. "What, why're all of you peasants so shocked?"

"It's the first day," Ichigo grumbled.

"Well, nevermind that, it's an amazing project, so it won't matter. Now, let me start putting you into groups!" He looked at his roll chart lazily while his left hand dug into a bag of chips. "Firs' 'roup," he said thickly through a mouthful of Doritos, "Orihime Inoue, Ulqui…_something_ Cifer, and Grimmjow I-dunno-how-to-pronounce-that."

I felt a pang in my chest. I kind of wanted to be with Orihime, and I felt a little bad about her being stuck with two guys she hardly knew, but Ulquiorra wasn't all that bad.

"Rangiku Matsumoto, Toshiro Hitsugaya, and Neliel…can't pronounce that either," Omaeda announced next. _Oh well._ _Guess I won't be with any of my friends this time. _

"Renji Abarai, Rukia Kuchiki, and Ichigo Kurosaki." That's me. Being with Renji would be fine, and I had to admit, I was kind of excited about getting to spend some more time with Ichigo.

Even thought that's not how I'm supposed to feel.

* * *

><p>Soi Fon lit a cigarette and pushed it towards her mouth, but Nanao slapped it out of her hands before she could take in the fumes. "Smoking is bad for you."<p>

"Like I care."

"Have a piece of gum instead."

"I'll pass."

There was a short pause in there conversation. It would've been silence, if not for the roar of the cars on the freeway. "So what are you going to do?" Nanao asked. "I would try talking with them—"

"You really think that I haven't already tried that?" Soi Fon laughed bitterly. "I don't know who framed me, but either they were _really_ good or I'm just a generally hated person."

"Why do you say that?"

"After the headmaster came to my door and talked to me, I tried to tell him that I was out of my dorm for most of the night with you. But he refused to even ask for confirmation from you."

"And?"

"That obviously means that they were absolutely sure that it was _me." _

Nanao took a sip of coffee. "And it truly wasn't you?"

Soi Fon glared at her. "They accused _you, _too, didn't they? Did _you _really do it?" Nanao scowled. "That's what I thought."

Pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose and sighing, Nanao said, "Need I repeat myself? _What next?" _

"Obviously I'm not going to let my pride be stripped away like this. I'll find whoever framed us and give them hell."

* * *

><p><span>Author's Note<span>

O-o-O-oh, a twist, how lovely. A few notes on this chapter:

1. The game that Grimmjow was playing, Skyrim, has spawned a meme that goes along the lines of, "I used to (insert text here), then I took an arrow in the knee". This comes from a popular catch phrase a lot of guards in the game say: "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee."

2. "Leeroy Jenkins-ing" comes from a popular World of Warcraft Machinima video on youtube. In this particular Machinima, the characters are planning how to distract the enemy in the room next to them when a character gets tired of all the planning crap and decides to take action. So he runs in without thinking and yells, "Let's do this! LEEEEEEEEEEROYYYYY JENNNNNKINNNNNSSSSS!"

Well, after that clarification, that's really all I must say for this chapter.

Uh. Yeah. Bye.

-Potter


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